Help-Seeking by Women and Men After Experiencing Any IPV, Including Physical, Sexual, and Psychological IPV, Controlling Behaviors, or Economic Abuse: A Population-Based Study From New Zealand

Among women and men who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV), what proportion had contact with informal or formal sources of help, and how helpful were these sources considered? Does the type of violence experienced influence the likelihood of help-seeking? One thousand, four hundred sixty-four ever-partnered women, 1,423 ever-partnered men. This study used a population-based and representative sample of New Zealand women and men who experienced IPV to present descriptive statistics of those who sought help from informal (e.g., family and friends) or formal (e.g., police, healthcare providers) sources. Comparisons were undertaken to determine whether respondent characteristics or types of violence experienced were associated with the likelihood of seeking help. The perceived effectiveness of the help, and reasons for seeking/not seeking help were explored. For women, 28.4% told no one about the IPV, 33.3% told informal sources, 30.6% told both formal and informal sources, and 7.7% told only formal sources. For men, 53.5% told no one, 26.1% told only informal sources, 13.5% told both formal and informal sources, and 6.9% told only formal sources. There were notable gaps between seeking help and the perceived helpfulness of both informal and formal sources; gender-specific information on helpfulness is presented. Of those who did seek help, most reported motivating reasons associated with serious concerns or experience of violence. For both women and men, the type of IPV experienced was significantly associated with seeking both formal and informal help. Enabling and resourcing informal helpers could have important implications for supporting and encouraging contact with formal helping services, which could support opportunities for long-term recovery from violence. Additional work to energize and enable formal services across multiple sectors is needed to fulfill policy ambitions of providing safe, accessible, and integrated responses, and providing increased capacity for healing for those who experience violence.